CLAIM TO TOUGH GUY FAME: 

Terrence Stephen McQueen was one of the biggest stars of his day, dominating the box office with a stalwart hip, aloof persona that earned him perhaps the most enviable Hollywood nickname ever: “The King of Cool”. Known for depicting renegade antiheroes that marched to the beat of their own drum, the iconoclast rose to prominence playing cool, charismatic Tough Guys in Westerns and war films before establishing himself as Hollywood’s original mainstream action movie star.

With his trademark blonde hair and famously bright blue eyes, McQueen hid a rough edge beneath a devastatingly handsome exterior. Born with a rebellious streak, he was notoriously difficult to work with, and his behavior off the set was even more infamously tumultuous. To this day, he remains a pop culture icon, his death at any early age helping cement his image as the timeless brand of cool.

WAS HE TOUGH IN REAL LIFE?

Way tough! Born in Indiana during the Great Depression to a dysfunctional alcoholic mother, a revolving door of boyfriends and stepfathers beat rebellious young Steve to try and keep him in line. This caused him to act out further, which led to more abuse. Trapped in a cycle of violence, he ran away for the first time when he was just nine, sleeping on the streets and committing criminal mischief as a member of a local gang.

Shipped off to live with his grandparents in the country before he landed in jail, Steve enjoyed stability and support on the family farm for several years before his mother sent for him to rejoin her at her new home in Los Angeles. Coping with an abusive new stepfather, he quickly returned to his life of delinquency and gang activity. At one point, young Steve ran away from home to join a traveling circus. It was a short-lived escape; he was soon back at home enduring beating after beating, finding solace in a life of petty crime. 

At age 14, he was arrested for a second time for stealing hubcaps, and the requisite beating at home was particularly savage, culminating in Steve being thrown down a flight of stairs. Having finally had enough, he threatened to kill his stepfather if he ever laid hands on him again. The ever-tense arrangement had become untenable, and Steve was court-ordered to leave home to attend a boarding school for troubled boys.

The strict new environment proved to be just what the wayward youth needed. After initially struggling to fit into what felt like prison conditions, Steve became not only a model student, but a respected leader among his peers. The discipline of the academy and its supportive environment molded him from an aspiring young thug to a mature young man. He was so grateful for the center’s positive impact on his life that in addition to becoming a genorous lifelong donor, he regularly returned to speak to and mentor young men there, even after becoming famous.

After two years at boarding school had seemingly straightened out the young thug, Steve left the center and rejoined his mother in New York City. It was a short-lived reunion; enticed by the chance to see the world, Steve soon signed on to the Merchant Marines and left home for good at age 16. He quickly abandoned his service, electing to travel around on his own, using his grit to work a series of true Tough Guy jobs, including as a bouncer at a Dominican brothel, a lumberjack in Canada, and a roughneck on an oil rig. At one point, the teenager was arrested for vagrancy and sentenced to serve on a brutal chain gang.

Growing weary of the drifting lifestyle, Steve dreamed of a way out of perpetual homelessness and hard labor. He longed for stability and opportunity, and like many restless young men looking for a way out of their circumstances, he chose the military, enlisting in the United States Marines Corps when he was just 17. Initially, his rebellious nature clashed with the requisite rigid rules and regulations, and he was demoted in rank an astounding seven times. Eventually, however, just like boarding school, he grew to embrace the discipline of the service, becoming a model soldier and eventually entrusted with the command of his own tank.

Although he was honorably discharged just months before the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, McQueen’s deployment was not lacking in action or valor. During one mission in the Arctic seas, his transport ship collided with a sandbar, sending several manned tanks overboard. Without hesitation, McQueen dove into the icy waters, swam to a tank, and pulled out all five of the trapped crew, whisking them to safety. This life-saving act of heroism earned Private McQueen reassignment to the President’s Honor Guard, which provides personal protection to the presidential yacht.

PATH TO GREATNESS:

Following his discharge, McQueen found himself back in New York City working odd jobs to get by when a friend suggested that he try acting. An instant natural on the stage, in 1952, he was accepted into the Neighborhood Playhouse, one of the most respected theatre schools in the country. 

As his career on the stage struggled to take off, he began entering local motorcycle races for extra money. An exceptionally gifted racer, McQueen was soon cleaning up on the track, earning the modern-day equivalent of $1000 a weekend racing. He would remain obsessed with cars and motorcycles for the rest of life, involved in professional and amateur racing throughout his acting career, and so skilled behind the wheel that he famously performed many of his own driving and riding stunts.

Even as professional racing beckoned, McQueen remained focused on acting. In 1955, over 2000 actors auditioned for the prestigious Actors Studio, and McQueen was one of only two selected. With his Broadway career stalling, he moved to L.A. when he was 25. After several years of struggling through bit parts and B-movies, he finally got his big break on television, landing the lead role as a bounty hunter in a new Western series called Wanted:Dead or Alive.

His profile rising, he stole the show in the ensemble films The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Great Escape (1963) with memorable turns that catapulted him to superstardom and leading man status throughout the 1960s and 70s. His signature role is probably as the titular renegade cop in the 1968 crime thriller Bullitt, known for re-inventing the cinematic car chase.

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his leading role in the war epic The Sand Pebbles (1966).

In 1974, he became the highest-paid movie star in the world for his role in the smash-hit disaster flick The Towering Inferno.

KEY FILMS:

The Great Escape (1963), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Bullitt (1968), The Getaway (1972), Papillon (1973)